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1725 — Third ^emi-Pentennial of JDoncord — 1875. 



A DISCOURSE 



Growtli and DcTeloieiit of Coiitord, I. \ 

1 



IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS : BEING THE THIRD 
SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



DELIVERED BY APPOINTMENT, IN THE CITV HALL OF CONCORD, 
JUNE 17, 1375. 



By NATHANIEL BOUTON, D. D. 



CONCORD: 

PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
1875. 






THIRD SEMI-CENTENNIAL. 



1725. CONCORD, N. H. 1875. 



The present )'ear marks the termination of the third half century 
that has elapsed since the original grant of our township, in 1725. 

A short time since, the City Council and the Board of Trade ex- 
tended to Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, d. d., an invitation to address 
the people of Concord upon the subject of the moral, social, and civil 
progress of their city during the last fifty years. This invitation he 
has accepted, and a meeting will be holden for this purpose at the 
City Hall, on Thursday, the 17th day of June, proximo, at eleven o'clock 
A. M., that being the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the issu- 
ing of a grai>t to the proprietors of the township of " Pennycook," by 
the General Court of the Province of Massachusetts Bay. 

The present year is the fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Dr. 
Bouton in this city. For half a century he has been a close observer 
of all its varied interests, and of the events that mark its progress. Of 
very many of them he has been the recorder, and it is to him that we 
are indebted for the admirable history of our town and city. 

The exercises at City Hall will consist of the address, and music by 
the Concord Choral Society. Dinner will be served to invited guests 
and citizens, at the Eagle Hotel, at three o'clock. 

You are respectfully invited to be present, with ladies, on the occasion. 

JOHN KIMBALL, Mayor, 

GEO. A. BLANCHARD, President Board of Trade, 

JOSEPH B. WALKER, 

JOHN M. HILL, 

SARGENT C. WHITCHER, 

Covitnittee of Invitation. 
Concord, N. H., May 28, 1S75. 

.01 ^A 






City Clerk's Office, City Hall Building, ? 
Concord, N. H., June 30th, 1875. S 

Rev. Dr. Bouton: — 

Bear Sir : At a meeting of the City Council, held June 26th, 1875, 
the following resolution was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the citizens of Concord be and are 
hereby extended, through the City Council in convention assembled, 
to Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, d. d., for his valuable and interesting his- 
torical address, delivered in the City Hall, June 17, 1875, being the 
occasion of the third semi-centennial of the settlement of the town, 
and that a copy of the same be solicited for publication. 

A true copy— attest : C. F. STEWART, 

City Clerk. 



To C. F. Stewart, Esq., City Clerk, Concord: — 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a copy of the 
resolution passed by the City Council of Concord, June 26, 1875, con- 
veying their vote of thanks, &c., with a request for a copy of the dis- 
course, delivered by me on the 17th of June, ult., for publication. I 
hereby signify my compliance with said request, which I beg you to 
communicate to His Honor the Mayor, and the gentlemen of the City 
Council. Very respectfully yours, &c., 

N. BOUTON. 

Concord, N. H., July 3, 1875. 



/(^ 



DISCOUESE. 



♦ . 



Mr. May or ^ Ge7ttlenien of the City Cojincil and of the Board 
of Trade ^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 

Were It permitted me to place passages of holy writ at the 
head of the discourse, which, by invitation, 1 have the honor 
to address to you on this occasion, I would select, as most fit 
for my purpose, and most congenial with my sentiments, the 
words of the royal Psalmist: '•'• JMy times are in thy hatidy 
" The lines arc fallen 2into me iit pleasant places; yea., I 
have a goodly heritage^^' 

Standing before you, fellow-citizens, perhaps for the last 
time, after the lapse of fifty years since I became a resident of 
the goodly town, now city, of Concord, I desire, first of all, on 
this occasion and in this presence, to render thanks to the 
Supreme Author of all our blessings, that "my times" were 
allotted me in this pleasant place, in an age and generation so 
prolific of good. I desire, also, with the deepest sincerity, to 
render a humble tribute to Concord, the adopted and adop- 
tive place of my residence, the birthplace of my children, the 
field of my labors, the scene of my experiences, joyous and sad, 
and I hope, in the end, the place of my burial. 

It adds to the interest of this occasion that the " times," which 
in particular we commemorate, bring us to the one hundred 
and fiftieth anniversary of the original grant of the township. 
On the 17th of June, 1725, a petition, signed by Benjamin 
Stevens, Andrew Mitchell, David Kimball, Ebenezer Eastman, 
John Osgood, and Moses Day, in behalf of themselves and 
others, was presented to the Great and General Court of Mas- 

* Ps. 31:15. i6;6. 



sachusetts, for a grant of the very lands for a township which 
are now our heritage.* On that day the seed of that tree was 
planted whose fruit has ever been sweet to our taste, and under 
whose wide-spread branches we sit to-day with great delight. 
Just fifty years from that day took place the ever memorable 
battle of Bunker Hill, in which a portion of our citizens shared 
a glorious part, and in commemoration of which, on this hun- 
dredth anniversary, we heartily unite. 

Under these circumstances we might very properly review 
the times embraced in the whole period of our history, — at least, 
so far as to note the most prominent events in each fifty years 
past ; to recall the names, labors, and sacrifices, the noble deeds 
and worthy character of the first settlers ; and especially to note 
the steady growth of our town, from its beginnings in the wil- 
derness, 1725, to its present honorable position and its distin- 
guished advantages. But of both the first and second periods 
it must suffice to sav, that the history of those " times" is already 
written, and need not be rehearsed in the ears of this assembly. f 

Concord in 1S25. 
I. The theme which now invites our attention is, the growth 

AND DEVELOPMENT OF CoNCORD IN THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. 

Before I ever saw the place, it had been described to me in an 
official communication inviting me to preach as a candidate for 
the ministry here, as "one of the most important stations in 
New England ; the seat of the state government, and the shire- 
town of the county ; as an agricultural town, with a pretty large 
and very flourishing village nearly in the centre ; the general 
character of the people distinguished by sobriety and industry ; 
the town has been settled about a century, and has had but 
three ministers settled, whose ministry has filled up that whole 
space." "These considerations," it was added, "will show 
you that the field is large, and the labors abundant." This 
description, by my life-long friend, Samuel Fletcher, Esq., was 
not exaggerated ; }ct of this nature everything is comparative. 
On reaching the place, and walking the streets of this then 

* See Hist, of Concord, pp. 55, 63. 

t See Hist, of Concord, and two Centcnni.il discourses by the writer, Nov. 21, 1S30. 



" pretty large and very flourishing village," what did I behold? 
In the village, as then laid out, were two streets, which v/e now 
call Main and State streets, and a short, half laid out street 
or avenue which we call Green street, together with four con- 
venient cross streets, which we call Franklin, Washington, Cen- 
tre, and Pleasant streets. The whole village consisted of about 
175 dwelling-houses, 17 stores, S taverns, 5 printing-offices, and 
a considerable number of small mechanical shops. The popu- 
lation was estimated at about 1,100, or near one third of the 
population of the whole town, which was not far from 3,000.* 
The greater part of this village population at that time lay 
northerl}' of the Town Hall, the spot where we are now assem- 
bled, where, also, the greater part of the business was done, on 
Main street. 

The public buildings were the State House, State Prison, the 
Town Hall, in which also was a county court room, and the old 
North ]\Ieeting-house. In the whole village, comprising what 
is now the Union School District, were three school-houses, viz., 
the old two-stor}^ brick at the North end, the Bell school-house 
in the centre, and a small one-story house at the South end. 

On the line of Main street, from the Walker place to the 
South end, or Butters' tavern, were many vacant lots. A few 
rods south of us, on Main street, was a low gully, through which 
run a brook that was crossed by a small plank bridge ; on one 
side worn-out tan-pits, and on the other the famous old hay- 
scales.-\ In the whole village there was then only one brick 
dwelling-house, the same now owned by ex-Gov. Stearns, built 
the year before by Doctor Thomas Chadbourne, though since 
greatly improved and enlarged. Fronting the state house, on 
the east side, was a decayed picket fence enclosing an old apple 
orchard, on a portion of which, two years subsequently, the 
first Eagle Coflee House was built. J Along the midway of 
Main street, the entire width of ward five, were fifteen dwelling- 

* The U. S. Census of 1820 gave 2,838 ; that of 1830, 3,702 ; — the increase of population 
being greater the latter half of the decade than the first, we estimate the population of 1825 
at 3,000 or 3,100. 

f See Hist, of Concord, p. 539. 

J This was finished on the 8th of January, 1828, and in it was a ball the same evening, in 
honor of Gen. Jackson's victory at New Orleans, January 8, 1814. 



8 



houses, including three taverns ; within the whole limits of 
ward six, soutli of Pleasant street, we count only fourteen dwell- 
ing-houses ; on the whole length of State street, then laid out 
as far as Pleasant street, were only seven dwelling-houses on 
the west side, and one on the cast ; on Green street, three small 
one-story houses ; west of State street was a strip of swamp 
land, overgrown with alders and other bushes, extending from 
near the State Prison the entire length of the village south ; the 
rising groimd, further west, was pasture and tillage land, the 
northern portion being known as saiid-hiU. 

Be it remembered there were then no named " streets" in Con- 
cord ; but the whole village was known, in town and out of it, 
as " the Street." Names were not assigned till 1S34. 

I hope it will not detract from your estimate of "this pretty 
large and flourishing village," to be informed that in 1S25 there 
were here no pavements nor sidewalks, except such as were made 
on the road-side by foot-travellers ; that persons who walked to 
meeting in winter had the right of way in the middle of the 
road, and that by proclamation from the pulpit ; nor must you 
esteem it the less because carpets on the best rooms of many of 
the best families in town were home-made ; and that the furni- 
ture of every kind was far more simple and inexpensive than 
would satisfy fiimilies of very moderate means at this day. I 
remember when the first mahogany armed and cushioned chair 
was brought into the village, at the cost, I think, of fifteen dol- 
lars, and it was talked of as quite extravagant. 

This reminds me that outside of the main village there was 
but one house in the whole of the West Parish where a carpet 
covered the floor of the best room ; that then, too, in that sec- 
tion of the town, as also in the east, with perhaps two excep- 
tions, there were no dwelling-houses painted white ; if painted 
at all, red or yellow. I place to the credit of the families of 
that time, both in the village, and, more especially, in outer dis- 
tricts, that nearly every house was a home-factory for domestic 
fabrics. In a single school district (No. 3) in the West Parish 
were nineteen looms in daily use, for weaving by mothers and 
daughters, vv'ho needed no illustrated, unabridged dictionary to 



define the meaning of the " shuttle," the " spindle," and the 
" distaff'," Very few stoves were then in use, either for parlor 
or kitchen ; but the large, open fire-place, with plenty of wood 
for one dollar and fifty cents a cord, made the old hearth-stone 
a place of comfort and of joy. Then rare were pictures on 
parlor walls, and still more rare, plants and flowers at windows. 

I need hardly tell you that we had no " Concord Director}^" 
in those times, nor did we need one ; for the people from every 
section, attending the same meeting on the Sabbath, their faces 
and names and residences were well known to each other ; 
and as the larger part "stayed at noon," it came to pass that if 
any case of sickness, or accident, or death, or marriage, or birth 
occun-ed in any part of the town, it could be talked over in a 
social way during intermission, without any great violation of 
the Fourth Commandment. 

Outside of the two rival banks, acting under one and the same 
charter, there was no invested capital, no incorporated compa- 
nies for manufacture or trade, no insurance company, except 
the old yEtna, of Hartford, Conn., whose insignia on every 
house that it protected was a round, painted tin plate bearing 
its name. Then all mechanical employments were caiTied on 
single-handed ; the engine and machinery consisted of the brains 
and hands of the master, with one or more apprentices. Our late 
respected citizen, Lewis Downing, had then but recently begun 
to make his Concord wagons, his capital consisting of sixty dol- 
lars in money, his tools, and his own hands. Even framing build- 
ings by the square-rule was then but just introduced, as certified by 
our venerable master-builder, Atkinson Webster, Esq. A chief 
part of trade was by barter and exchange, with very little cash ; 
produce taken into stores was transported to Boston or other 
markets by river and canal-boats in summer, and in heavily 
loaded sleighs or wagons in winter, the trip requiring a week 
or more. Then you could nowhere cross the Merrimack river 
without stopping to pay toll at a ferry or a bridge. The first 
free bridge over the Merrimack river, from its mouth to its 
source, was erected in Concord in 1839. 

It may seem strange to you, in these musical times, that in 



10 

the whole town there was, in 1825, but one piano-forte, and 
that was brought into town b}' the (second) wife of Col. William 
A. Kent, — and, I may add, charmingly played by her youngest 
daughter, Miss Ellen Tucker. Our young ladies may be pleased 
to Icarn that the " charms " of her music, or some other charms, 
charmed the heart and won the hand of a brilliant young cler- 
gyman, preaching for the Unitarian Society, — now the revered 
philosopher and sage of Massachusetts, and of wide-world 
fiuiie — Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

The first organ in town was set up in the Unitarian church 
in 1S29, and was consumed with that edifice in 1854. The 
instrumental music in other churches, for years later, consisted 
of a bass viol, a flute, and a violin. 

Matekl\l Growth. 

Such, in general, was Concord in 1825. How is it now.'' 
Lift up your eyes, and behold your city in 1S75 ! I will not 
presume to describe it, but if you have leisure, take a walk 
through this " pretty large and flourishing village," containing, 
as now laid out, surveyed, and measured, 120 streets and ave- 
nues, equal, in aggregate length, to about twenty-seven miles,* 
within whose bounds, by estimate, are to-day 2,000 dwell- 
ings and 10,000 inhabitants. Or, if you prefer it, come ascend 
with me to the cupola on the dome of the State House : 
look down from that eminence on the '^ Street," where all the 
business was done in 1825. Survey the magnificent brick 
buildings that stand in compact beauty and strength before 
your eyes : turning westward, see, beneath you, the street where 
were only eight dwelling-houses, now extending the length of 
two miles, studded with elegant houses on each side, and 
ornamented with beautiful shade-trees and flowering gardens. 
Look on the successive tiers of streets and dwellings, rising 
one above another on the gentle slope of the hill westward, 
until your eye rests on the stately mansions which crown its 
brow ; then extend your vision in the distance to Prospect Hill, 
and the opening of that "extension" ground already made at- 
tractive by its sightly buildings. Behold what now covers 

* Survey by Mr. Warren Upham, 1875. 



II 

that valle}^ of worthless swamp-land ; or, turning noithward, 
see the line 06 houses exended till it reaches the ancient farm- 
houses of the West Parish. 

If you prefer it, take an open carriage, in this beautiful month 
of June, and, commencing at the North end, drive over the 
height of land \%'est of this City Hall. Soon you will find your- 
self in the midst of a new district, the growth of the past seven 
or ten years, where there are better houses and a more numer- 
ous population than in the whole of this "pretty large and 
flourishing village" fifty years ago. Continuing your ride along 
these heights, there will soon burst on your vision a prospect so 
wide, so picturesque, so beautiful, of elegant houses, turrets, 
towers, and steeples, intermixed with lofty and ornamental 
trees, that the ancient Concord will be lost sight of, and your 
only wonder will be when and how the change could have been 
bi'ought about. I would not have you stop here, but extend 
your ride and survey till you reach, on the south border, the 
new Broadway of our city, and see the productive gardens at 
the further extremity, which are at once as much a source of 
pleasure to visitors as of profit to the owners. 

If this view does not sufiice you, take a wider range, and, 
with your family, ride and enjoy together the varied and beautiful 
scenery around our Long Pond ; or, better still, over the height 
of land further west, till your eye sweeps the vast horizon, which 
takes in the Uncanoonucs, the grand Monadnock, the sublime 
and solitary Kearsarge, the distant Ascutney, Cardigan, and 
Ragged mountains, and stretches far away towards the White 
Hills, In a more quiet way pass over the river at Fisherville, 
look on the Duston monument, survey the well-cultivated farms 
in the "mountain" district, and see our village in the distance. 
Before you stop, pass through the shades of the pine plains ; and 
when your ride is ended, I am sure you will testify, " Our lines 
have fallen to us in pleasant places; yea^ we have a goodly 
heritage I " 

Besides the growth of the main village, I must add that spe- 
cial improvements are visible in the West village. The kit 
factory of ex-Mayor Humphrey, and the woolen factories of the 



12 

Holdens, with other industries, have awakened new hfe in that 
ao-ricultural section of the town, as also enhancetl the value of 
every acre of their land. Their new brick school-house and 
elegant stone church are proofs of progress. 

East Concord village, at this time, is aspiring to the dignity 
of city streets and avenues ; and, by its proximity to the centre,' 
with railroad accommodations, is attracting new branches of 
business and a growing population. 

Still more : undreamed of a half-century ago, on our north- 
ern border, upon the banks of the Contoocook, where there 
were but two dwelling-houses on this side of an old, dilapidated 
brido'e, and three more on the interval near the railroad station, 
a village has sprung up much larger than the main one in 1825, 
containing a population of about 2,500 souls, with capital in- 
vested in factories over half a million, furnishing employment 
for about 700 workmen, and enjoying, as one ward of the city, 
similar, if not equal, advantages of every kind as at the centre. 

Nor must I omit that even on the dark Pine Plains, which 
used to be considered as barren as a desert, another village has 
begvm to rise, with neat houses, and cultivated and fruitful 
fields, which, I doubt not, will increase from year to 3^ear, and 
prove a convenient appendage for residents who do business in 
the centre precinct. 

Indulge me, fellow-citizens, with a brief chapter of statistics, 
which will tell in figures the whole story of our material growth 
better than any description. 

In 1825, Concord ranked in population as the sixth town in 
the state, — Portsmouth, Gilmanton, Sanbornton, Londonderry, 
and Dover being in advance : now it is the second, — Manches- 
ter only, with its magnificent factories and its thousands of 
operatives, standing at the head. 

In 1825, the number of taxable polls in Concord was 610, 
and the assessed valuation of the town was $804,376 : the 
last year, the taxable polls were 3,784, and the valuation 
$9,000,526 — next again only to Manchester. Then the highest 
tax paid by any one individual was $94.86, and the tax upon 



13 

the whole town was but $4,073.38 : now the highest tax paid 
is over $3,000, and I could name four individuals the sum of 
whose taxes last year was more than double that of the whole 
town in 1825. Then the amount of stock in trade was as- 
sessed at $34,600 ; stock in banks at $14,735 ! money at interest, 
$24,850 : now the assessed stock in trade is jout down at 
$830,811 ; and, besides all other money, unknown in amount, 
in banks, in bonds, and at interest, there is on deposit in the 
several savings banks of the state, in the names of citizens of 
Concord, $1,333,609, and shares owned by them in railroads, 
worth not less than $1,093,750. 

In regard to this material growth I can find a beginning in 
1825, but I know not where to place the figures ending in 1875. 
The city collector has kindly furnished me a list of forty-two 
names of individuals or companies engaged in trade or manu- 
factures of different kinds : I shall not tnidertake to give the 
exact sum of their invested capital, nor the amount or profit 
of their business. Some of these, however, stand out so prom- 
inently that it will not be invidious to name them, and I am 
sure they will not object to the statement. The carriage factory i 
; commenced by Lewis Downing, Esq., as now carried on by the 
/ Abbott Downing Co., has a capital of $400,000, employs an 
/ average of 250 men, and produces carriages of various kinds 
( to the value of $500,000 annually. The Granite business^ be- 
gun in a humble way by Luther Roby, Esq., some twenty-five 
years ago, has grown into gigantic proportions. The several 
companies — I am told ten in all — engaged in quarrying in the 
ledges and in hammering in their extended sheds, gave employ- 
ment last year to about five hundred men. Filling contracts 
for splendid monuments and magnificent public buildings, the 
products of their labor are visible in our principal towns and 
cities in every part of our country. One of our home-wrought 
monuments is at Muscatine, on the western banks of the Mis- 
sissippi river. 

Why need I speak of the founderies and belting companies ; 
of organ and melodeon manufactories ; of the power-presses 
of Concord, or rather of the power of the Press in Concord ; 
why of the "Concord harness" and the "Concord churn;" 



14 

why of the monumental marble works, wrought with artistic 
skill into all forms of beauty ; why of the silver ware, and the 
beautiful photography, and of builders of houses and churches, 
and flour and grain and lumber dealers ; and why of our princely 
merchants, about two hundred in all ? I assume as substantially 
correct, the statement that the capital invested in manufacto- 
ries of all kinds in Concord the last year was about $2,276,300,* 
giving employment to 2,150 men and boys, with some 500 
women, and producing manufactured articles to the value of 
$4,600,000. Concord to-day is a vast workshop — bee-hive — of 
productive industries. 

Perhaps, however, the most conclusive evidence of the mate- 
rial growth of Concord will be found in the records of the 
Post-office ; for the number of letters sent and received, with 
the papers which pass through the office, indicate, somewhat, 
both the number of persons thus accommodated, and the amount 
of business transacted through that channel. As we have said, 
the population of Concord in 1825 was about 3,000, with only 
one post-office. In that year Gen. Joseph Low was postmaster, 
his office being in a small wooden building where the Rumford 
block now stands. 

The postage on letters that year was . . . $695.57 

Postage on newspapers, ...... 40.18 

Commission on letters and newspapers, which con- 
stituted his salary, ...... 293.96 

Contingent expenses of the office were . . . 85. 28 

Allowance on free letters, ..... 27.76 

Leaving a balance due the United States, . . $329.22 

The last year, Moses T. Willard, Esq., postmaster, there 
were collected on regular newspapers alone $657.16, and the 
revenue from letters, letter-boxes, stamps, and postal cards was 
$21,460, — leaving a balance for the government, after all con- 
tingent expenses were paid, of $14,476.14. This is not all: 
the ordinary letters sent through our village post-office last year 
were reckoned at 470,000, and the number of letters received at 
500,000 ; to which add registered letters to the number of 2,269, 

* N. H. Gazetteer, 1874. 



15 

and money-orders amounting to $84,025. Be it further re- 
corded, that 35 mail-bags are daily received, and 35 daily sent 
out from this office ; and that the regular newspapers of Con- 
cord sent out annually amount to one million. 

Here, fellow-citizens, we might rest the evidence of our 
material growth in the last fifty years ; but I am indebted to 
the accurate pen of our city clerk for another item, which 
partly explains, as cause and eftect, the basis of our growth. 
From 1835 to 1830 (five years), the publishments of intentions 
of marriage, by parties in our city, were 121, or an average of 
24 a year; from 1870 to 1S75, the number of publishments was 
850, an average of 1 70 a year. 

If you ask for further evidence of our material growth, I will 
point you to our new and improved methods and implements 
of husbandry ; to our fire department, with its powerful steam 
fire engines, its forty-five hundred feet of hose, and its trained 
companies of more than four-score men, " alert " and of " good- 
will ; " * to the superb, substantial, and free bridges, which 
span our rivers ; to the gas-works, which give light to our dwell- 
ings and illuminate our streets ; to the sewerage, which adds to 
the healthfulness of our city precinct ; to the railroad facilities 
and telegraphic lines, which connect us with the whole world ; 
and perhaps chief of all, to the water-works, which supply 
us, from one of nature's inexhaustible reservoirs, with the 
purest water for our domestic uses and for the extinguishment 
of fires. 

Please excuse me, fellow-citizens, for not telling you how 
much all these things cost, and the amount of our city debt. 

Periods of Growth. 

If, just here, we inquire into the periods and causes of the 
gi-owth of Concord in the last fifty years, they will be found to 
centre, chiefly, in the fact of its being the Capital of the state ; 
yet, I humbly conceive that is not the beginning, nor all. A 
true history of its growth would include its location ; the char- 
acter of its first settlers, as a select and elect company, fitted 



* See Appendix, Note i. 



i6 

for so great an enterprise as a plantation in the wilderness. * 
Long before the white man came, the savage tribes of Penacook 
had made it their head-quarters, — selecting it by an instinct and 
sagacity which seldom erred, on account of the natural advan- 
tages which it affoi-ded for fishing, hunting, and for defence. 
Here was their ancient fort, where they fought the Mohawks. 
In the old Indian and French wars, R^imfoj'd lay in the 
direct route for soldiers from eastern towns to Charlestown, 
No. 4, and thence to Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Concord, 
too, in and after the Revolution, had acquired celebrity by the 
character of her citizens. The old minister, who had moulded 
the people by his teachings and example, was still alive — 
known and reverenced throughout the state as a true patriot 
as well as devoted servant of God. Here were Col. Gordon 
Hutchins and Capt. Joshua Abbot, both with their com- 
panies in the battle of Bunker Hill ; here resided Col. Thomas 
Stickney, who, with his regiment of volunteers, was with Gen- 
eral Stark in the battle of Bennington ; here, also, was Timothy 
Walker, Jr., Esq., one of the honorable councilors for Rock- 
ingham county, ever vigilant for the prosperity of the town. 
When, therefore, in 1778, the subject of calling a Convention 
to form a constitution was raised. Concord was named as the 
most suitable place — halfway between the sea-coast and the 
Connecticut river, and already become the highway of travel 
from the northern sections of the state. 

In his early travels to the lake and mountain region of New 
Hampshire, the celebrated Dr. Dwight, president of Yale Col- 
lege, passed thi-ough the place (1S13), and desciubed it as 
beautifully located on both sides of the Merrimack river, thrifty 
and growing ; and predicted, '* It will probably be the perma- 
nent seat of government." 

In the war of 1812-15, Concord was the more brought into 
notice by being the general rendezvous for soldiers on march 
for Canada. But when, by act of the legislature in 1S16, it 
was decided that the State House should be built here, then a 
new life began. From 1825 to 1S36 were years of unchecked 

* See Hist. Concord, pp. 59, 60. 



17 

progress. There was then a temporary pause and reaction on 
account of the speculating mania in Concord home-lots and the 
wild lands of Maine. But when it was decided that the Con- 
cord Railroad should be built, connecting us with Boston, then 
enterprise took a sudden leap. On the entrance of the first 
passenger train from Boston, September 6, 1842, hundreds of 
citizens assembled to witness the new and strange sight ; shouts, 
huzzas, and firing of cannon celebrated the joyous event. 
Thencefoilh our growth advanced more rapidly than ever. In 
1843, thirty-seven new dwelling-houses, making fifty-one tene- 
ments, besides one large church, various stores, offices, and 
shops, were erected in the main village. Between 1840 and 
1850, the population nearly doubled. The next great impulse 
was the adoption of our City Charter, in 1S53 ; thence " onward" 
has been our watchword, and onward our progress — never 
more so than in the past three years. Even the great national 
calamity, which came upon us in the conflict for the life of the 
nation, contributed to our increase and enrichment, inasmuch 
as our city became the central rendezvous for the brave soldiers 
who came hither from every part of the state to be enrolled, and 
hence to march to the battle fields of our country ; and, the war 
ended, to return and receive, amid rejoicings and tears, their 
honorable discharge. 

I must record that, in that dread conflict, nobly and well did 
Concord uphold the flag of our country, — her municipal author- 
ities responding to every call, and furnishing her full quota 
of 918 men for the Union army, — all, as they went forth, 
cheered by the hearts, the hands, and the prayers of her loyal 
women. 

No marvel that, attracted by such influences, population has 
flowed in upon us from every quarter. Laborers and mechan- 
ics of every craft have here sought and found remunerative em- 
ployment ; young men and maidens, from adjacent and remote 
sections of the state, have come to learn trades, to fill the places 
of clerks, and to enjoy superior social privileges ; professional 
men, attracted by the prestige of the capital, with brighter 
prospects of wealth or fame, and gentlemen with families, who 
have acquired property and reputation in other towns, disposed 
2 



i8 

to retire from active service and spend the evening of life_ in 
quiet and comfort, have chosen our beautiful city for such laud- 
able ends ; — to these add that men of enterpx-ise, skill, and thrift 
have come to introduce new industries of trade, of mechanism, 
of art, and merchandise, because from this, as a centre, they 
can more easily convey their products to places near or remote. 

Occasions of Public Interest. 

At this point it may be pertinent to note, that among the at- 
tractions and advantages of a residence in our city are to be 
reckoned the occasions of great public interest, which draw 
the people together from every section of the state. I allude 
to the attractions of our annual Election Day, giving to the 
people an opportunity to witness and to share in the display, 
the ceremonies, and festivities attending the Inauguration of 
Governor ; to the occasional conventions, political and for 
other ends, at which sometimes thousands assemble. The 
largest remembered of this kind was on June 17, 1840, during 
the Harrison campaign, when the peoj^le came in masses, it 
was estimated to the number often or fifteen thousand ; when 
" Typpecanoe and Tyler too," 

was the song, and a log cabin with latchet of the door out, was 
the ensign of party. To which add the occasional visit and 
presence of men eminently distinguished in some of the higher 
walks of life. Of such men in " my times," I recall the names 
of some on whom it was a privilege and honor even to look: 
I name, first, the immortal General Lafayette, who visited us 
in June, 1S25, — the friend of Washington, the honored hero 
and citizen of both France and America. At his coming the 
people gathered by thousands to shout his welcome. Old sol- 
diers of the revolution to the number of 3io, some of whom had 
served under him, gathered to do him homage ; at his presence 
they fought their battles o'er again ; they took his hand, one by 
one, and, — singular as it was happy, — after so long a separation 
he recognized and called by name some of the old veterans that 
had fought by his side. After him, in June, 1S33, came Gen- 
eral Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, — the hero 
of New Orleans, the man of iron will. His heroic bearing, 



19 

his hoary locks lying back on his lofty forehead, his flashing 
eye and venei-able form, struck every beholder with awe ; thou- 
sands gazed upon him. Thrice on the Sabbath he worshipped 
with us in different congregations, and had the prayers and bene- 
dictions of ministers and people. Accompanying him on that 
visit was his Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren, afterwards 
President. We have also been honored with a visit from 
President James A. Polk, and later, in the memory of us all, 
the indomitable Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Com^oeers or superiors 
in honor and fame, we have looked on the august visage and 
heard the inspiring eloquence of Daniel Webster ; we have seen 
among us the Hon. Lewis Cass, his massive form laden with 
the burdens as well as honors of ofiice ; as a visitor among 
his relatives we have repeatedly seen the Hon. Salmon P. 
Chase, Chief Justice of the United States ; and the aspiring, 
ever-working Hon. Levi Woodbury. May I not place these 
four in the front rank of New Hampshire's sons in the last fifty 
years.'' Specially invited, and pi'oducing quite a sensation at 
the time, was the visit, in 1843, of Col. Richard M. Johnson, 
wearing the same red vest which he woi^e when, in battle, " in 
his opinion," he killed Tecumseh. Here, too, we have listened 
to the entrancing music of the violin by Ole Bull, and seem, 
even now, to hear the tones of supplication and entreaty thence 
of a mother's prayer. We have looked on the benignant face 
of Mr. George Peabody, whose wealth, amassed by high finan- 
cial ability, patient industry, and sterling integrity, he dispensed 
with a royal munificence, for the benefit equallv of England and 
America. 

On the political platform, we have heard in eloquent debate 
not only New Hampshire's brilliant sons, Franklin Pierce and 
John P. Hale, but also the rival champions of Illinois, Stephen 
A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln. We have listened to the 
silver-tongued eloquence of Edward Everett, in eulogy of 
Washington. Repeatedly have we been honoi^ed with the 
presence among us — though in a more private and humble 
way — of the late Professor S. F. B. Morse, who, we are proud 
to say, came to us early in his illustrious career as a painter of 
portraits, and who, leaving us, carried with him not only the 



20 

picture but the heart of the fairest of our daughters. After he 
had completed his great invention of the electric telegraph, and 
entered on his wide-world fame, he came back to us, and asked 
the privilege to look once more upon the very spot where he 
first met and was introduced to the beautiful bride of his youth 
— Miss LucRETiA P. Walker.* 

Distinguished Citizens. 
While Concord has had the honor of visitors and guests 
thus eminent in the public walks of life, she has not herself 
been deficient in furnishing a fair quota of capable and honora- 
ble men to fill high positions in our own state, in other states 
of the Republic, and in foreign countries. Of our citizens, 
either native-born or resident, we have furnished one President 
of the United States, four Governors of New Hampshire, two 
Senators and two Representatives in Congress, eleven Judges 
of our state courts, including four Chief Justices. One of our 
sons has been Governor and Judge in an adjoining state, and 
Minister to Rio Janeiro. We have furnished one United States 
Commissioner abroad to settle disputed claims with England, 
another Minister, resident in Switzerland, and at least two 
Consuls to other foreign countries. Others of our citizens have 
been called to positions of instruction in colleges and other pub- 
lic institutions, and many of our sons have, in other cities and 
states of the Union, acquired honor and wealth, with a good 
.name, which is best of all. I need hardly add, that, in the last 
fifty years. Concord has been well represented in the legislature 
of the state, furnishing, among her able representatives, no less 
than six Speakers of the House, ten Senators, three of whom 
were Presidents, and five honorable Councilors. 

In regard to leading and influential citizens of Concord, be- 
fore and in " my times," it is gratifying to know that there have 
always been men living in different sections of the town with 
that amount of home talent, that "round-about common sense," 
which enabled them to manage the prudential affairs of the 
town wisely and well. For this service, the ancient families of 
Eastmans, Chandlers, Kimballs, Hoyts, Virgins, Rolfes, Car- 

* She was the eldest daughter of Charles Walker, Esq., and was esteemed the belle of 
Concord. 



21 

ters, Abbots, Farnums, Herberts, Stickneys, Ayers, Bradfeys, 
and Walkers, — to mention no more, — have furnished a large 
quota. 

Allow me here to record a well-known historical foct, rela- 
ting to our central village : For a long period, a sort of rivalry 
and competition existed between the North end and South end, 
or, rather, the middle^ which comprised the South end. The 
dividing line between the two sections was a neutral space of 
some fifteen or twenty rods in front of the old Town Hall. Here 
a border warfare was not unfrequently carried on between the bel- 
ligerent boys of the different sections. This rivalry rose to its 
highest pitch in the location of the State House. In both sec- 
tions resided men of note and influence. At the North end, in 
1825, and later, were men who held office and had a con- 
trolling influence in town affairs through near a whole gener- 
ation. I trust it will not be thought invidious in respect of 
others if I name them : Mr. Abiel Walker, a man of few words 
but sound judgment, himself a pattern of economy and thrift, 
and deemed worthy of trust in town affairs. His neighbor, 
Samuel Coffin, cool in manner, with a clear head, accurate and 
just in accounts, was the financial conservator of town expenses. 
He would bring his estimate into each annual town-meeting, 
seeming to say, " Thus far, gentlemen, and no farther." It 
was hazardous to overstep his bounds. Gen. Robert Davis, 
who had the rare gift of knowing everybody in town, and held, 
in turn, every office the people could confer. Chief of all, 
Richard Bradley, whose name, placed on the list of voters at 
the age of twenty-one, and then appointed constable, never dis- 
appeared from office of some kind till the age of seventy. 
Comprehending town affairs and town interests more perfectly 
than any of his compeers, positive in his opinions, sound in 
judgment, reliable in word and deed, he was an acknowledged 
leader during his whole life. It is well to note that these men 
were all natives of the town, who lived and died on the old 
homesteads where they were born. They were known as con- 
servative North-end men. 

At the same time, residing in the middle section was another 
band, who, distinct in almost all matters except what had a 



22 

bearing on the interests and growth of their particular section, 
held an equiponderant influence. These men were Col. Wm. 
A. Kent, whose intelligence, social position, and gentlemanly 
manners gave him a wide popularity ; Isaac Hill, a trained and 
skilful politician, slow of speech but swift of pen, printer, edi- 
tor, governor, senator, who swayed an influence throughout the 
state unsurpassed by any citizen ; Joseph Low, of soft words 
and conciliatory manners, postmaster, bearing military titles, 
and honored as first mayor of the city, by his personal good 
qualities holding the esteem of a large portion of his fellow-cit- 
izens ; and Nathaniel G. Upham, of dignified presence, lawyer, 
judge, superintendent of railroad, and, later, commissioner to 
England, had the gift of foresight more than most men, and in 
general character and position stood well with the people. 
These men, I say, distinct in their several lines of influence, 
were 3'et a unit in what they judged would be for the general 
prosperity of the town, and particularly for the growth of the 
section where they resided. Not one of these men was native- 
born. They came hither from diflerent towns, with diverse 
ideas and associations ; they came young, and here began and 
here ended their lives. 

The first four, I have said, were conservative, slow to move 
in new measures, or to adopt untried experiments ; the others 
were progressive, quick to discern the signs of the times, hope- 
ful of new measures, and prompt in execution. 

As in mechanics and science there is what is called a compo- 
sition of forces, so I attribute to the counterbalancing and yet 
composite influences of these, and such like men, with their 
numerous associates, the healthful growth of our town and city ; 
at no time rapid and hazardous — no rush to extremes — no unad- 
vised and rash expedients could be carried ; and no measures, 
fairly proposed and deliberately adopted by a majority of our 
citizens, that have not proved a success. Thanks for the judi- 
cious administration, not only of the town, but also of the city 
government. 

Public Buildings. 
I alluded to the public buildings in Concord in 1825. The 
State Prison has since been enlarged to nearly double its capaci- 



23 

ty. The historic old meeting-house has passed away in flames. 
The old wooden Town Hall has given place to the substantial 
brick edifice in which we are assembled. The State House, 
more grand and beautiful in its proportions without, and more 
commodious for its purposes within, has also attractions and 
adornments never thought of fifty years ago. Here are the 
memorial battle-flags of our brave soldiers, on which hundreds 
come to gaze with patriotic devotion. On the walls of the 
Representatives' chamber vv^e behold the full-length portrait of 
the Father of his Country, and by his side noble specimens of 
New Hampshire's noblest sons, both in ancient and modern 
times. Over their heads, our military heroes of the Revolution — 
Stark and Cilley, Scammell and Poor. In another chamber, hon- 
orable senators ; and in still another, a splendid galaxy of well- 
drawn portraits of the men whom the people have been pleased 
to honor as chief magistrates. These beautiful adornments in 
our Capitol are due to the gratuitous agency of one of our own 
citizens — his work is his reward — Hon. Benjamin F. Prescott, 
Secretary of State. 

Of other public buildings which have arisen since 1S35 I 
would speak if I knew how to discriminate. But we have 
now so many that in some respects are worthy of the name, 
that I hesitate. We call the building and libi^ary of the New 
Hampshire Historical Society, — patronized as it is in part by 
the state, — a ■p7Mic institution. The splendid Board of Trade 
building is public in a noble sense ; and the magnificent Opei'a 
House is designed to be public : but there is one about which 
there can be no divided opinion. 

In the Institution for the Insane, first built in 1841, now an 
ornament to our city as it is an honor to the state, we claim a 
special interest. The establishment of it was first earnestly 
recommended by Gov. Isaac Hill in his message to the legisla- 
ture in 1S36. It was then ably advocated by our representative, 
Charles H. Peaslee, Esq., who was chairman of a committee of 
the legislature on the subject. Its location in Concord, rather 
than at Portsmouth or elsewhere, is mainly due to the wise 
foresight of Hon. N. G. Upham. For the purchase of the 
beautiful grounds where the institution is situated, the town 



24 

approjM-iatcd $10,000; and most gratifying of all, of the per- 
manent funds which are its chief endowment and reliance, 
amounting in all to $250,000, $190,000 of that sum were lega- 
cies b}^ persons native-born or resident in Concord, viz. : 
By Abiel Chandler, Esq., . . . $25,000 

the Countess of Rumford, . . 15,000 

Moody Kent, Esq., .... 150,000 

To which, adding the sum paid for land, — $10,000, — gives to 
the city of Concord an interest of $200,000 in that institution. 
But we may humbly ask, What is that compared with the 
benefit which has already accrued, and more that will in all 
future time accrue, not only to Concord, but to all New Hamp- 
shire, from the establishment of such a beneficent institution ? 
Already 3425 insane patients have been admitted into it, of 
which 1364, or 40 per cent., have been wholly restored ; 768 
others improved and discharged. And in the last ten consecu- 
tive years the rate of recoveries to the admissions of persons 
who had not been insane over six months, is 77 to the 100. 

Moral Progress. 
Permit me now, fellow-citizens, to lead you along another 
track of progress. We who are now seventy years of age and 
upwards have witnessed the whole course of what is called the 
Temperance Reform. We knew the state of society here 
in 1S25, and we know, comparatively, what it is now. Let 
then those who are in younger life, and strangers to our city in 
former times, step back with us fifty years, and receive the tes- 
timony of eye-witnesses and actors in the events and scenes of 
that and the period intermediate. 

At that time, and for about five years later, the use of ardent 
spirits in Concord, in the form of rum, brandy, gin, whiskey, with 
wine and other mixtures, was universal. In the families of the 
more wealthy and fashionable, they were displayed in elegant 
decanters, in an ornamented case on the side-board, placed on 
the table at dinner, offered as a token of civility to visitors by 
day and evening, and regarded as among the indispensable 
comforts of life. These liquors were used equally on occasions 
of joy and sorrow, for cold and heat, at births and deaths, at 



25 

marriages and funerals. Farmers carried well-filled bottles 
into the fields with them ; mechanics kept them in their shops, 
and professional men in their ofl^ices. The idea was universal 
that no laborer could do summer work without them ; and 
hence, in haying and harvesting, farmers usually purchased 
from ten o-allons to a barrel for their workmen. At funerals, it 
was the custom to pass round well-filled glasses to all the 
mourners and relatives, and bearers received a double portion. 

We aver that, in 1S37, every store in town, then nineteen in 
number, sold ardent spirits, not only by the quantity, to be car- 
ried away, but by the glass, to be drank by customers at the 
counter ; that every tavern, ten in number, kept an open bar, 
glittering with glasses and labeled decanters of the choicest 
liquors, to accommodate its guests. The aggregate quantity of 
ardent spirits of all kinds — not including wines — sold from stores 
in Concord, in the year 1S27, was equal to four hundred hogs- 
heads (of 120 gallons each), or about 48,000 gallons, — enough 
to furnish more than one gallon to every inhabitant of Mem- 
mack county,— and the portion of it actually sold to the people 
of "this sober and moral community," as estimated and put 
down by the traders themselves, was about 14,500 gallons, — 
equal to four and a half gallons to every man, woman, and child 
in town ! The cost of these liquors to consumers v/as not less 
than $9,000, which was more than double the amount of all the 
taxes the year previous for state, county, and town expenses, 
including schools and the support of the poor. 

Yes, fellow-citizens, these were the "good old times" of 
license^ when any man who wished to accommodate his neigh- 
bors, and help himself, could, by asking for it, obtain a license 
from the selectmen to diftuse the ctirses of rum broadcast over 
the town, — only he must pay twenty cents to the town-clerk for 
recording his license ! And any man, on a certificate of good 
moral character, and the payment of two dollars, could obtain 
a license for a taverner — rum and all. 

This Is not all. The product of every orchard in town, in 
those times, was converted into cider; from 15 to 30, 30, 50 
barrels, and often more, were stowed away in cellars for family 



26 

use and for hired laborers, and at the end of the next season 
not enough left for vinegar ! 

Such was the exact state of things in Concord in 1825, and 
till 1S30 and later. 

Has anything been done in the intervening years to stay and 
roll back the mighty flood of rum and cider which overflowed 
our goodly town ? I will not ask you, fellow citizens, to go over 
with me, step by step, the history of all the efforts put forth in 
this temperance cause. The first blow was struck on Fast Day, 
April 13, 1837, in that old North Meeting-house. The battle 
there begun in weakness has been bravely " fought out on the 
line" of total abstinence, and many a glorious victory has been 
achieved. In proof, I point you to visible trophies : 

1. That in the whole city there is but one place where spir- 
ituous liquors can be laxvfully sold, and that only for " medici- 
nal, mechanical, and chemical purposes," adding wine for 
sacramental uses. 

2. That in all the stores in Concord, two hundred or more in 
number, there is not one where a glass of such liquor can now 
be bought to be drank ojt the premises. If, as is conceded, it is 
sometimes sold by apothecaries and druggists, it is presumed 
to be in the line of their profession, for medicinal or chemical 
purposes, rather than for use as a beverage. We confide in 
their integrity, that, in this regard, they will keep a good con- 
science. 

3. That not a single tavern in our city keeps, as formerly, an 
open bar, but, if kept at all, is out of sight ; and I offer it as 
my humble opinion, that there is not visible in all the families 
of Concord, on side-boards or anywhere else, any signs of hav- 
ing on hand intoxicating liquors for daily use, or for treating 
callers and visitors. 

The first year I began my labors in Concord, in making pas- 
toral calls on a particular day, I was invited to drink at every 
house, or an apology was made for not having any on hand. I 
assume, that of the eighteen or twenty ministers now in Con- 
cord, there is not one who in the last fifteen or twenty years has 



27 

ever been invited by a parishioner to drink intoxicating liquor 
in any family which he has visited. 

5. In brief, I submit that the customs and usages of social 
life in this regard have undergone a total change in the last 
fifty, or, rather, the last thirty years. If spirituous liquors were 
now drank in the same proportion by the present population as 
in 1825, instead of 14,500 gallons, as then, we should consume 
not less than 72,000 gallons, or 600 hogsheads. Instead of four 
and a half gallons a year to every man, woman, and child, I 
really question whether the average would equal four and a half 
pints, or even four and a half gills. I know at least one who 
does not drink that quantity. And if the same proportion of 
people in town were now reckoned intemperate, as then, we 
should have a staggering battalion in our streets of not less 
than six hundred drunkards. It is due to our good name to 
say that much of the liquor here sold in a clandestine manner 
is bought and drank by people from other towns ; and I state 
on the best authority, that of the arrests made for drunkenness 
by our police, two thirds at least are non-residents. 

It gives me great pleasure here to state that within a few 
years past a great accession has been made to the temperance 
ranks in Concord by a society composed of a class of our fellow 
citizens who had stood aloof from, or not been reached by, 
other organizations. We welcome with double gladness the 
St. John's Catholic Temperance Society, composed mostly of 
hale, robust, energetic 3'oung men, who will, we are sure, do 
noble service in winning their associates from the ranks of the 
destroyer. Besides these, among the same class of citizens, as 
I am assured on the best authority, there are not less than eigh- 
teen hundred who within the past eight or ten years have taken 
the pledge of abstinence from the hands, rather, from the lips, 
of their reverend Father, and who on that account, perhaps, 
will stand the firmer and walk tlie more erect. These facts 
explain in part what we have all rejoiced to see, — a marked 
improvement and elevation of character in that now large por- 
tion of our community. 

Yet it is said, — and we deplore the truth of it, — that^there 
are places in which, without license, in defiance of law, under 



28 

color of beer or ale, in saloons and victualling houses, in pri- 
vate dwellings and out-houses, in cellars and attics, the deadly 
liquor is kc2)t for sale ; — -and a cr}' is raised as if nothing had 
ever yet been done to stay or remove the evil. In regard to 
the facts of the case, we find in them a powerful incentive to 
persistent action in this reform. We would array against the 
use and the sale all proper influences, — moral, legal, social, re- 
ligious, — that can possibly be made to bear. Let every existing 
temperance organization renew and augment its eflibrts. We 
welcome the Woman's Temjjerance League ; we ask a more 
vigilant watch of our city police to ferret out the secret places 
of the deadly sale ; we implore the cooperation of our munici- 
pal authorities to the legal extent of their power ; we invoke 
the majesty of our courts not to let justice be turned away 
backward and equity fall in our streets, but in all cases let the 
law be vindicated. It is motive enough for such united and 
determined action, that almost all the existing evils of our com- 
munity arise from or are allied with intoxicating drinks. 

In regard to the morals of this community in other respects, 
I think it may be now said, with more propriety than in 1825, 
" that the general character of the inhabitants of Concord is 
distinguished by good morals, sobriety, and industry." Com- 
parisons are odious ; yet, com.pared with other places, we hum- 
bly submit our opinion that neither in New Hampshire, nor 
in New England, is there a village or city of equal population 
where the people, as a body, are more industrious, sober, peace- 
ful, and well-ordered than here. Here order reigns ; street 
fights and nightly brawls, outrages on decency and public peace, 
are rare. Never, since the foundation of our settlement. 1725, 
has the cry of blood, for wilful murder, gone up to heaven from 
our soil. In the last fifty years, two homicides have occurred, 
— one the result of boyish passion, the other of drunken carousal, 
without malice i:)re2Dense. Within the same period I can recall 
but three instances in which the public peace has been disturbed 
by what might be termed riotous proceedings. The first was 
in 1S35, "i"* occasion of the visit of George Thompson, an elo- 
quent anti-slavery lecturer from England. It may well humble 
us to-dav to reflect that the whole disturbance on that occasion 



29 

was caused by the action of the staid "friends of law and order," 
to prevent a lecture from that gentleman on the subject of sla- 
very in the poor old Town Hall. The chairman of the board 
of selectmen turned the key against him. No one was hurt. 
The next occasion was 1836, after the Rev. George B. Cheever, 
then of Salem, Mass., had, by invitation, delivered a temperance 
discourse in the old North Church. In the evening the pastor's 
house, where Dr. Cheever lodged, was assailed by certain 
rttm " fellows of the baser sort," who, after shaking the door 
and calling in vain for the man " who dreamed the dream," 
retreated to the state house yard and burnt him in effigy. 
The next day each one of the party was called before a justice 
of the peace, and they were obliged to pay a fine and costs for 
their rum-deed. The third and still greater excitement, — fresh 
in memorv, — resulted in the destruction of an offensive press by 
incensed soldiers, against the counsel and orders of our mvmici- 
pal authorities. Concord, with the motto on its city seal, — 
"law, education, religion," — indicates the true character of our 
people. 

Schools. 

On the subject of schools it is less important that I enlarge, 
because the annual reports of the superintending school com- 
mittee, from 1827 till the pi'esent time, have been published and 
distributed among all the people. The statistical facts which 
enable us to mark the progress made in fifty years, are these : 
The sum appropriated by the town for school pur- 
poses in 1835 was ...... $1,250.00 

The number of scholars in attendance, . . . 935 

The sum appropriated in 1875 was . . ' . . 27,126.00 
And the number of scholars returned, . . . 3:549 

The sums above mentioned are exclusive of appropriations 
for building and repairing school-houses.* 

In place of three schools in this pretty large village, as in 
1S35, we have now thirty distinct schools, and more wanted. 

The progress in our schools which is most marked is in the 
size, style, and convenience of our school-houses ; in the adop- 

* See Appendix, Note II. 



30 

tion of the graded system of instruction, — consequently a wider 
range of studies, better order and discipline, and more thorough 
instruction ; to which add, more recently, the introduction of 
vocal mjisic as a branch of study, in the benefits of which the 
smaller children as well as the more advanced share. 

We look with just admiration and pride upon our substantial 
and commodious grammar schools, and more upon our high 
school edifice, scarcely inferior in its accommodations, we 
judge, to any in the state. It is a proud day when the youths 
of our city, — young men and maidens, — without distinction of 
race, color, nationality, politics, or religion, having completed 
the prescribed course, stand forth in the presence of teachers, 
parents, school committees, and friends, to give proof of their 
attainments, and to receive diplomas as testimonials and lau- 
rels of the success achieved. With laudable j^ride we say, 
" These are our jewels." 

As pertaining to the history of education in Concord, I must 
not omit to mention that, fi-om the beginning, it has always 
been an object to employ well-educated and competent teachers. 
Hence, students and graduates of college have often been em- 
ployed, some of whom have afterwards become distinguished 
in public life. The first master in the ancient Penacook was 
Mr. James Scales, a graduate of Harvard College, afterwai'ds 
the first minister of Hopkinton, N. H. ; in i773? Benjamin 
Thompson, the celebrated Count Rumford, began his illustrious 
career as a school-master ; district No. S boasts that one term 
Hon. Levi Woodbury was their teacher; No. lo, that the late 
Rev. Dr. Burnham, of Pembroke, and Dudley Leavitt, the dis- 
tinguished Mathematician and "Almanack maker" of New 
Hampshire, served them. The first term the old brick school- 
house at the North end was opened it was taught by Hon. 
George W. Nesmith, and afterwards by Professor Edwin D. 
Sanborn. No. 3 was taught by Judge David Cross ; No, 12, 
by the late Prof. Long, of Dartmouth College ; Nos. 4, 5, 7, 8, 
by our most eminent literary son, Nathaniel H. Carter. The 
late Joseph Robinson, Esq., and Col. Chandler E, Potter, 
taught with ability and success, I might name other scholarly 
and able men, still living among us. 



31 

In our educational history (further) , the " Concord Literary 
Institution and Teachers' Seminary" has a creditable record. 
It was established in 1S35. The building, 58 feet by 54, 
two stories high and costing about $3,500, which was raised 
by subscription, was located on a lot of land donated by 
the late Samuel A. Kimball, Esq., on what was then called 
Sand Hill, now covered with elegant and sightly dwellings, 
and known as Academy Hill. First taught by Mr. T. D. P. 
Stone, a graduate of Amherst College, it attained a wide popu- 
larity, having students from all the New England states, from 
New York, Ohio, and Alabama, and one each from Greece and 
from Spain. There were two departments, male and female : 
on the roll of students we count about nineteen hundred names, 
among which we discover the names of very many of our own 
sons who have attained distinction in the various v/alks of life. 
Among them we count the names of nine who have become 
preachers of the gospel, nine physicians, sixteen educated as 
lawyers, several distinguished educators, and other successful 
business men. It gives me special pleasure to say that His 
Honor the Mayor, the President of the Board of Trade, and the 
Superintendent of Public Instruction in this Union School Dis- 
trict, severally received their highest acadeinic honors from the 
Concord Literary Institution and Teachers' Seminary ; and I 
have the further pleasure to add, that in 1837 there appeared in 
the list of students the name of Henry Wilson, now Vice- 
President of the United States. Here, wd believe, he received 
the last finish of the academic education which has borne him 
to his high position. The Academy closed its mission in 1844.* 

Nor would I omit that all along through the past fifty years, 
at least succeeding the Academy, there have been select schools 
for young misses, taught by ladies of culture and refinement, to 
the great advantage of our daughters. 

The Methodist Biblical Institute, the first of the kind in the 
United States, established in our town in 1847, remained among 
us twenty years, in which time five hundred and sixty-two young 
men were educated in it for the Christian ministr}'. 

■* See Appendix, Note III. 



32 

To which I add the more recent school at Millville, estab- 
lished in 1S55 b}' the munificence of George C. Shattuck, 
I\I. D., of Boston, in which institution we take the more satisfac- 
tion, because the miclais and basis of the beautiful villa that has 
there sprung up is the Jirst brick dwelling-house ever erected 
in Concord, being built in 1S04 by Jacob Carter, Sen., the 
fiither of our venerable living citizen bearing the same name. 
Its prefix indicates the historic fact, that on the stream which 
flows by it was erected in 1733 the first mill ever built in Con- 
cord on the west side of Merrimack river. 

In the growing prosperity of this school we rejoice, sharing 
as we do in the benefits of its rich endowments, its liberal cult- 
ure, its wealthy patronage, and its large disbursements. 

Although, fellow-citizens, we do not claim to be the banner 
town of New Hampshire in the public education of our sons, 
yet I have the pleasure to say that I have the names of eighty- 
six graduates of college since 1S35, — our sons, — native born or 
residents, making the whole number one hundred and sixteen ; 
besides others, number not exactly known, graduates of medical 
and law institutions.* 

Since 1S25, all the public libraries in our city have come into 
existence, viz. : 

The City Library, containing about . . . 6,350 vols. 

The Library of the N. H. Hist. Society, . . 7,000 " 

The N. H. State Libvary, 13,000 " 

Sabbath-school libraries, aggregating . . . 9,000 " 

These are our proofs of progress in schools and education in 
the last fift}' years. 

Churches. 
What shall be said of our religious progress.^ Step out with 
me, fellow-citizens, and look at that old North Meeting-house as 
it was, standing alone in this township of seven miles square 
and more, opening its doors on the east, south, and west to re- 
ceive worshippers from every section. They come in wagons, 
on horseback, and on foot, to the average number of 750. In 
the whole town there is but one stated, settled minister, his sal- 

* See Appendix, Note IV. 



33 

ary $750 annually, and the whole expense to the town in 1825 
was $806.13. The highest minister's rate, as it was called, was 
$23.17 ; the next highest $13.05 ; and the average rate paid by 
five of the ablest men in the vicinity of the meeting-house was 
but $7.60. 

Look again, and count to-day, on precisely the same territory, 
at least twenty hovises and places of public worship, convenient, 
commodious, someofthem elegant, magnificent, and costly, each 
with its stated minister, and on the Sabbath well filled with 
worshippers to the aggregate number of near 6,000. Do you 
ask at what expense .'' The salaries alone of ministers aggregate 
$24,450, and other expenses incidental at least $10,000 more — 
which sums are voluntarily raised by subscriptions or contri- 
butions, in not a few cases, of fifty, one hundred, two hundred 
dollars, and more. 

One fact in our religious progress is worthy of historic note, 
viz., that as our town itself has had its "times" of growth, its 
impulses, and particular periods of enlargement, so the churches 
have advanced in a like manner, more in some years than 
in others. We call these years " times of refreshing." In the 
first quarter of our half century, particularly from 1S27 to 1842, 
there was almost a continuous religious interest pervading the 
minds and hearts of the people. In that period there were 
added to the First or North Church alone 579 members ; to the 
First Baptist, chiefly under the ministry of Rev. Dr. E. E. 
Cummings, 473 ; and a corresponding number to other churches 
that improved the heavenly visitation. Of similar seasons, 
more recent, I need not speak ; but I shall ever regard it as a 
favor of Divine Providence, for which my heart is glad, that 
" my tiines," so ordered, shared in such blessings. I estimate 
the ratio of membership in the churches to our whole population 
at 13 per cent, in 1835 ; now, at 18 per cent.* 

I look upon it as a most gratifying circumstance, that re- 
dounds to the credit of these several churches and congregations, 
and equally to the honor of the whole community, that they 
have risen into existence in the most natural order to meet the 

*SeeNote v. 



34 

wants and preferences of those who support them. The prin- 
ciple of religious liberty and equality is so well understood and 
so uniformly acted upon, that although each church, and every 
individual member thereof, is well persuaded in his own mind, 
and fixed in the faith and ecclesiastical order which he has 
adopted, yet the broad mantle of Christian charit}^ is spread 
over the whole, and no one has reason to complain that he 
cannot worship God according to the dictates of his own con- 
science, having none to molest or make him afraid. 

Of the ministers of Concord I shall so far magnify my office 
as to say, that through the whole period of its history, one hun- 
dred and fifty years, its prosperity, character, growth, and devel- 
opment in morals, education, and religion, are due more to them 
than to any other single class of her citizens. The value of their 
labors and influence can never be calculated in dollars and cents, 
but only by the influences which have raised us to the position 
which we hold to-day among the towns and cities of our state 
and country. 

Mortality. 

If your patience, fellow-citizens, is not already exhausted, 
I will claim your attention to one topic more. It is to remind 
you that all along the path of these fifty years, Death has kept 
even pace with the growth of our population. According to 
the record of mortality in town, which I kept forty-two consec- 
utive years, or till iS66, the number of deaths was 4,229 ; the 
number since, according to a list furnished by the city clerk, is 
1,284, making to the beginning of the year 1S75, 5,5 iS- This 
large number of the dead, crowding the old burying-places, 
have demanded more room, and new grounds have been opened 
to receive them. But notwithstanding the seemingly large 
number of deaths, yet Concord is justly ranked as one of the 
most healthy localities in New England. Our rural disti'icts 
are equal in healthiness to any other portions of the state. In- 
cluding the centre village, the deaths annually in the whole 
city are only as one to seventy-two inhabitants, or about fourteen 
in a thousand, which is less than the best reported sections of 
Massachusetts. Of all who have died in the last fifty years, 
eight hundred and sixty-two, or one sixth and four tenths of the 



35 

whole numbei* attained seventy years. Seventy of this number 
reached ninety years ; fifteen between ninety and ninety-six 
years ; ten between ninety-six and ninety-nine years ; and five of 
them one hundred years and over — the oldest being one hundi'ed 
and three years, four months, and twenty-five days. 

It is an aflecting thought to me, that, of all the people in 
town who were fifty years of age in 1835, not one is known 
to be among the living to-day ; of all the ministers then in the 
state in office, only two are known to survive as my seniors ;* 
and of all the members of the religious society of which I took 
charge, I find only five survivors among us to-day, — then young 
men, now the old men of the town ; some of them are present. 
I beg the privilege of naming them as my contemporaries, sup- 
porters, and friends : Col. William Kent, Dea. Ira Rowell, 
Joseph Eastman, Ivory Hall, and Joseph P. Stickney. 

Fellow-citizens : sometimes, with closed eyes, I seem to see 
in retrospection a long procession passing before me of venera- 
ble men and women, representatives of past generations living 
in 1825, but now numbered with the dead. I recognize their 
well-remembered faces and forms ; I rise up to do them rever- 
ence. I crave the liberty of saluting some of them by name as 
they pass along. Of those who resided on the east side of the 
river, I recognize the venerable, strong-minded, and large-hearted 
old patriot, Jonathan Eastman, Sen., Esq. ; and next to him 
Capt. John Eastman, as straight and strict in principle as he 
was in form, — both leaving behind worthy descendants. I bow 
to Stephen Ambrose, Esq., of gentlemanly manners and wide 
influence ; and to his sensible and godly brother, Dea. Nathaniel, 
as also to their neighbor, our capable selectman and representa- 
tive, Jeremiah Pecker, Esq. There is Jacob Hoit, at the age 
of ninety, in his ancient dwelling on the " mountain," with a 
memory still fresh, and exuberant with facts of olden times. I 
see Asa Graham looking over his well-cultivated farm ; and 
Samuel Goodwin, with that emblem of old age, his red cap 
covering his head, as he used to sit in the old North Meeting- 
house. Of the West Parish, I recognize in this procession the 

*Rev. Abel RIanning, of Goshen, in 1S25, now residing in Goffstown, and Rev. Liba 
Conant, of Northfield, now in Orfordville. 



36 

venerable Capt. Joseph Farnum, ninety-seven years of age, 
spending a portion of each day in reading a chapter of his large 
Bible ; Timothy Carter, Esq., justice of the peace ; Dea. Abiel 
Rolfe, esteemed for his dow^nright integrity and piety, whose 
pravers were sought as well as his counsels ; here passes honest 
Amos Abbot, the owner of the granite ledges, which originally 
cost fifty cents per acre, whose value, to him unknown, enriches 
his descendants, and is better than a mine of gold to our city ; 
Isaac Dow, Esq., who well filled the ofiices of trust conferred 
on him ; Capt. Samuel Davis, and Richard Flanders, and Capt. 
Nathan Ballard, Sen., each at the age of eighty-nine, leaving 
descendants on the old homesteads to bear up their names. 

I recognize, also, not a few residing in the ancient street, 
who were, in my eyes, old men fifty years ago : there is Mr. 
Enoch Coffin, living in the family mansion, still standing, under 
the shadow of that majestic elm which is the pride of our city. 
Along on Main street I see Mr. Nathaniel Abbot, whose hos- 
pitable mansion entertained many friends ; near him, often in 
converse, the friendly and devout Mr. Lemuel Barker ; Mr. 
Richard Herbert, moving along with his staff', which fell not 
from his hands till the age of ninety-four ; here is my venerated 
predecessor in office. Rev. Asa McFarland, D. D., serving the 
town twenty-seven years, justly reputed among the ablest min- 
isters of the state ; and his near neighbors, Dr. Peter Green, 
John Odlin, Esq., and the athletic Capt. Richard Ayer. Still 
following in the long line I see the self-possessed and dignified 
landlord, Abel Hutchins, sitting in the old Phoenix, just risen 
from its ashes, and next him the genial Benjamin Gale ; I dis- 
cover, too, without mistake, the venerable founder and father of 
the Concord Press, George Hough, Esq., still j^ausing to fix the 
points ; respected as ever, I recognize Judge Samuel Green, 
walking with unequal step, but holding an even and just bal- 
ance ; here is Albe Cady, Esq., with the pen in hand of a ready 
scribe ; I see Maj. Timothy Chandler, ingenious and industrious, 
regulating the time ; tripping along with elastic step, at the age 
of ninety and over, is Mr. John Shute, Sen, ; near by, his 
neighbor, the exemplary Dea. James Wiley, and Dea. Jonathan 
Wilkins, Esq., a graduate of Dartmouth College, in his home 



37 

at the " Eleven lots," deliberate in step and in choice of words, 
but the more respected as the head of a large family of sons 
and fair daughters. These all, and many more, were among 
the aged inhabitants of the town in 1S25. 

The long procession still moves. I recognize many that in 
"my times" were the supporters of our schools and churches — 
industrious, moral, useful citizens ; here a group of those Chris- 
tian women, who, like some of earlier times, followed and 
served the Saviour by ministering to his poor ;— among them I 
see loving and loved ones who await our coming ; — they all 
seem now " in shining garments :" alas ! many fair daughters, 
who faded and passed away just in the bloom of womanhood. 
Here pass standard-bearers in our churches. One, with the 
same halo of sanctity about him as on the last Sabbath of his 
service in church ; and another, of graver aspect, but bearing 
on his front the impress of sincerity and fidelity to duty and to 
trust. I discern and salute men in the learned professions ; — 
every one of the physicians of that day ; every one of the law- 
yers, — as also, much lamented, some of a more recent period. 
Here are Chief Justices of the state,— one the more learned and 
exact, the other the more dignified and courteous. Here, also, 
I discern fellow-laborers in the ministry— a beloved Rector, fall- 
ing in the prime of manhood, with his robes yet fresh upon 
him, and later, a laborious and successful Pastor thirty-four 
years,— both gone to give in their accounts. Passing, I see the 
shadow of our second honored Mayor, suddenly dropping the 
cares and honors of office, to be followed by a sorrowing com- 
munity to a premature grave. Some, too, I discern, more emi- 
nent in their stations ; — ex-Governors of the state ; a venerable 
Judge, still wearing his ermine at the age of four score and 
four ; and a President of the United States. Closing up the 
long procession, I discern the brave boys in blue, — sons, 
whose graves we strew with flowers of loyal affection. But 
the shadows fade as promiscuously they pass along ; rich and 
poor, high and low, aged and young, parents and children,— 
all vanish from view, but yet live forever more ! 

" Though lost to sight, to memory dear ! " 



38 

Pardon me, fellow-citizens, that I have detained you so long. 
But with renewed congratulations for the prosperity which has 
attended and crowned our goodly heritage in the last fifty years, 
with renewed thankfulness to the Giver of all our mercies in 
that period, and with heartfelt satisfaction that in "my times" 
I have shared and been identified with you in all the progress 
we have witnessed and enjoyed, — I beg, in conclusion, humbly to 
remind you that our surest and only guaranty of prosperity 
for the future lies in adherence to the princijoles of virtue, hold- 
ing high the standard of morals, encouraging habits of industry, 
sobriety, economy, and diligence in our lawful avocations, cher- 
ishing our schools, training our children in the way they should 
go, guarding the Sabbath from profanation, and reverencing 
and sustaining the institutions of our holy religion. Thus doing, 
I see no grounds of apprehension for the future. The growth of 
the past fifty years is a prophecy and surety for its growth in 
the next. Our beautiful location may become still more attrac- 
tive, our business relations and resources more expanded, our 
population be again and again doubled, and ovu' social, educa- 
tional, and Christian privileges augmented. So, leaving this, 
our heritage, our children and children's children shall bless the 
God of their fathers, and say, '•''Our lines at'c fallen 7i7ito 7cs in 
pleasajit places; yea, vje have a goodly heritage^ 



APPENDIX, 



INCLUDING PORTIONS OF THE DISCOURSE OMITTED IN THE DELIVERY. 



NOTE I, PAGE I 5 



FIRE DEPARTMENT. 

Of the number of fires in Concord in the last fifty years I shall not 
presume to speak ; they are too numerous to mention. Some of them, 
as will be readily recalled, were in the very heart of our city, and 
destructive of large amounts of property ; but, to the praise of the enter- 
prise and energy of our people, our losses by fire have been our gain. 
Out of their ashes have arisen new, larger, more substantial and costly 
edifices, which stand to-day as proofs of our progress. Among the 
ruins by fire we count five of our churches, naming them in order : the 
Unitarian, 1854; the South Congregational, 1859; the West Congrega- 
tional, 1869; the Old North, 1870, after standing about 119 years ; and 
last, the First Congregational, 1873. 

In 1825, and six or eight years later, the fire department was managed 
by what were called " fire-wards," appointed by the town, who, on occa- 
sions of fire, bore aloft the distinguishing badge of their office, — "a 
staff five feet long, painted red, and headed with a bright spire six 
inches long,"* with a blue ribbon streaming from the apex. In 1825, 
and about eleven years later, there were only two small fire engines in the 
main village, — one of them called the "Literary" — which were worked 
by a brake, six men on each side, with a hose from twenty to thirty feet in 
length, without any suction hose. At the cry of fire and the ringing of an 
alarm bell, the fire-wards seized their badge, the firemen sprung for their 
engines, to be drawn by hand, and the people, with pails and buckets, 
rushed to the scene. Then would be heard the word of command from 

* See Hist. Concord, p. 343. 



40 

a fire-ward, like the colonel of a regiment, ringing out in stentorian 
tones, — "Form a line!" Then the people, — all the people (whoever 
disobeyed did it at his peril) fell into line, — rather, two lines, — ^^one 
to pass single buckets of water from the nearest accessible well, hand 
by hand, to empty one by one into the tub of the engine ; the other 
line to return the buckets to be refilled. Then, all ready, the engine 
placed as near the fire as would not be too uncomfortable, a stream of 
water from a half-inch pipe would be thrown upon the burning build- 
ing. Sometimes the men in line worked faster than the men at the 
brakes could throw the water, and then tubs from the neighborhood 
would be in requisition to hold the surplus till wanted. Very unfor- 
tunate was it if a well, with five or six feet of water, should give out 
before the fire was got under: but so it often happened. And if a 
building was so unfortunate as to be burnt up, it was not, be it spoken, 
for want of good-will, nor want of a good sweat on the part of the 
brakemen, nor want of being heard by the fire-wards, nor because the 
people in lines did not help all they could. I smile to remember how 
many times I have stood in line by the hour passing buckets from 
hand to hand. 

The gentlemen of the Fire Department of 1875 ™'iy congratulate 
themselves, not only on the superior, splendid engines and apparatus 
which they possess for extinguishing fires, and at their superior skill 
in management, but also that they stand in an honored line of succes- 
sion. Among the engine men of 1827 were a good portion of the 
most worthy, honored, and honorable citizens of the town. In a list 
of twenty-two names before me, I find the names of Francis N. Fisk, 
John George, John West, Dr. Moses Chandler, Jeremiah Pecker, Or- 
lando Brown, Richard Bradley, Robert Davis, Samuel Cofiin, Charles 
Herbert, Richard Herbert, Luther Roby (chief engineer, 1S27), James 
Buswell, and Samuel A. Kimball, Esqrs., with others of honorable 
name. 

I must not omit to record that at the fires in former times there was 
alwa) s present one conspicuous character. Usually, first and foremost, 
you might see the glare of his big white eyes amid flames and smoke : 
seizing a ladder, and the fire-axe which he bore officially, he would 
ascend roofs, enter chambers, and cut his way to the very source of 
the fire ; then, face to face with the fire-fiend, and with the stuttering 
cry of " Water, water ! " he would dash on pailful after pailful, or guide a 
well-directed stream from the engine to the exact spot. All due respect 
to tlie memory of Thomas B. Sargeant, the champion fire-fighter of 
Concord fifty years ago. 



41 



NOTE II, PAGE 29, 



STATISTICS OF SCHOOLS, FURNISHED BY C. F. STEWART, ESQ., CITY CLERK. 



Sum appropriated for schools in 1825, 

1826, 

" " " 1827, 

" " 1828, 

" " " 1829, 



$1,250.00 
1,250.00 
1,250.00 
1,250.00 
1,250.00 



Total for the five years, ...... $6,250.60 

I can find no satisfactory statement of the number of scliolars for the 
above period, but in 1826 I find reported 893 scholars, with the number 
in District No. 17 (partly in Hopkinton) and District No. 5 omitted, 
which, if added, would probably give not far from a total of 925 scholars. 

In 1840 the appropriation for schools was raised to . . $2,070.00 
Number of scholars returned the same year, . . . 1,062 

Appropriation for schools in 1850, $4,174.20 

Scholars in 1850, 1*653 

Appropriation for schools in 1 85 1, $4,219.32 

Scholars in 1851, 1,624 

Appropriation for schools in 1852, ..... $4,292.72 

Scholars in 1852, 2,197 

— equal to one fourth of the whole population : so say the committee in 
their rej^ort. 

Appropriation for schools in 1853, 

Scholars in 1853, 

Appropriation for schools in 1854, 

Scholars in 1854, 

Total appropriation for the five years. 

Appropriation for year ending March, 1870, 
Number of scholars, ..... 



Appropriation for year ending March, 1871, 
Number of scholars, . . . . . 

Appropriation for year ending March, 1872, 
Number of scholars, 



$5,471.86 
2,300 

$5,430.28 
2,448 

$23,588.38 

$20,673.00 

2,319 
$20,751.00 

2,401 

$21,658.00 
2,494 



42 

Appropriation for year ending March, 1873, • • • $~3,9S9-oo 

Number of scholars, ........ 2,492 

Appropriation for year ending March, 1874, . . .$25,126.00 

Number of scholars, ........ •'*2,468 

Total appropriation for five years, . . . . $112,167.00 

The above does not include the large amount expended for school- 
houses during the same time. 

To the foregoing it may be added, that in 1825, and several years 
later, all the school-houses then in town, with the exception of the brick 
house in No. 1 1, at the North end, and the old Bell school-house in the 
centre, were small one-story houses. With rare exceptions, all were 
built with large, old-fashioned fireplaces, and were warmed, not by 
stoves, but by piling on large quantities of wood to meet the exigencies 
of the weather. In the school report of 1827, the committee say, — " In 
some instances we have seen wood upon the fire, at one time sufficient, 
if burned in a stove, to keep a house warm during school hours for two 
or three days ; and frequently beheld, with emotions of pain, the suffer- 
ings which those nearest the fire endured from its excessive heat, while 
others, more remote, have actually shivered with cold."' 



INTERESTING LETTER FROM HON. G. W. NESMITH. 

Franklin, January 15, 1875. 
Rev. Dr. Bouton : — 

Afy Dear Sir: You inquire whether I ever taught school in your school 
district, No. 11. I answer, I did act the pedagogue for the term of four 
months, commencing in the month of November, 1820, and terminating 
in March, 1821. I was employed by the late Francis N. Fisk. I boarded 
at the tavern then kept by Lemuel Barker. I cannot state to you the 
exact amount of wages received by me per month. My recollection 
would be, not much over twenty dollars per month. The price of board 
was two dollars per week. The school generally averaged about sixty 
scholars. Among the dead I recollect Paul George, Charles West, 
Charles Emery and his sister, Mrs. Towle, Miss Coffin, who married in 
New York city, and the daughter of Nathaniel Abbott, by name Eme- 
line, and some others who were superior scholars. Among the living, 
of the same order, I remember the wife of Judge Perkins, Rev. Mr. 
Le Bosquet, C. Thorn, and a few others. I find but a very few of my 
little flock now alive. 



* This was the number in actual attendance. 



43 

My testimony would place that district school above the average of 
district schools in this state at that time, in point of capacity and acquire- 
ments. Your brick school-house was erected in the year 1820, and I 
was the first to use it in my said capacity of school-master. I think my 
immediate predecessor in your district was a Mr. Bartlett, brother of 
the late Richard Bartlett, Esq. My successor was Samuel A. Burns, 
Esq., of Plymouth. At a school-meeting of your district voters, holden 
early in March, Capt. Joseph Walker presented a claim against the 
district, which the voters refused to allow ; whereupon Capt. Walker 
obtained possession of the key of the house, and notified the district 
that there could be no school unless his bill was paid. I was allowed 
a vacation of three days in consequence of this imbroglio. The bill was 
at length paid up, and the house was opened. Of all this I did not 
complain, because my pay went on, and I enjoyed the days of rest ; 
and my scholars said they had a good time. Walker got his pay, and 
the district escaped a lawsuit ; and I never heard of any public meet- 
ings being held, either in Boston or New York, wherein Walker was 
denounced for employing i/ticonstitutio/ial ntcasures in obtaining my 
key, in order to enforce the payment of what was justly due him. 

The above occurrence formed an interesting episode in my school- 
master experience in your district, and so forms a like episode in my 
letter. I could proceed to detail to you many historical facts in relation 
to the men and measures of the legislature of the fall session of 1820, 
but all this would not be an appropriate answer to your inquiries : so 
you will allow me to stop here. 

Truly your friend, 

George W. Nesmith. 



NOTE III, PAGE 31. 



CONCORD LITERARY INSTITUTION AND TEACHERS' SEMINARY. 

In the fall of the year 1834, a young gentleman from Andover, Mass., 
Mr. Timothy D. P. Stone, came into Concord and proposed to open a 
High School, or Academy, provided a suitable building, with apparatus, 
could be furnished for the accommodation of the school. There being 
then no building that would answer the purpose, and the want of one 
being sensibly felt, especially by parents who had children to educate, 
the proposition was at once made to erect a suitable building for the 
purpose of a High School, or Academy. A subscription was accordingly 



44 



opened,* and the requisite sum obtained, witli tlie general expectation 
that the building would be erected on land offered for the purpose by 
George Kent, Esq. ; but before the location was decided on, a propo- 
sition was made, by individuals residing in the north section of the vil- 
lage, that the building should be erected on Stickney's hill, so called, west 
of the court house. This proposition not being agreed to,t it was then 
IJroposed by individuals at the north section to erect a building for an 
academy on land offered by Richard Bradley, Esq., and a subscrip- 
tion for the requisite sum was raised for the purpose. J In the mean- 
time trustees had been chosen by the subscribers in favor of the location 
on the ground of Mr. Kent, and by those in favor of the location on the 
ground of Mr. Bradley ; but as it was obviously unnecessary and inex- 
pedient that there should be two institutions of the kind, a proposition 
was made to unite and erect the proposed building on land offered by 
Samuel A. Klmball, Esq., on the hill west of Union street, and since 
known as Academy Hill. 

A subscription for the building and for the purchase of an additional 
piece of land of Mr. Kimball was accordingly made, in shares of twenty- 
five dollars each, by individuals residing in the main village, and is as 
follows : 

Samuel A. Kimball, § — donation of land for the building. 
Woodbridge Odlin, ? guaranty land on the side of the hill east of Mr 
Reuben Wyman, I Kimball's land, needful for a road, &c. 





Shares. 


Sum. 




1 Shares. 


Sum. 


Peter Elkins, .... 


2 


$So.oo 


Ezra Carter, .... 


^V2 


I37-50 


David L. Morrill, . 


4 


lOO.OO 


John Whipple, 


I 


25.00 


James Buswell, 


2 


50.00 


Isaac Clement, 


2 


50.00 


Samuel Herbert, . 


3 


75-00 


George W. Ela, . 


2 


50.00 


[Provided the building on 






Nathaniel Bouton, 


4 


100.00 


Richard Bradley's land does 






Joseph C. Wallace, . 


I 


25.00 


not go on.] 






Jewett Bishop, in work, 


I 


25.00 


John Farmer, in books, 


I 


25.00 


John Goss, .... 




10.00 


Abiel Walker fon condition 






Edward Philbrick, 




15-00 


that a majority of the pro- 






Michael Tubbs, . 




10.00 


prietors unite in this loca- 




1 


Henry M. Moore, in work, . 


}i 


12.50 


tion, and that a street be 




1 


Philip Sargent, 


1' 


12.50 


opened for convenient com- 






Nelson P. Johnson, 


i< 


12.50 


munication from State St. 




i 


Hazen Walker, . 


I 


25.00 


to the"lnstitution], 


4 


100.00 


A. B. Kelly, 


I 


25.00 


John Mfller, .... 


'A 


12.50 j 


Shadrach Seavey, 


% 


12.50 


Reuben Wyman, . 


Vz 


12.50 


Isaac Emery, Jr., 


Vi 


12.50 


C. H. Peaslee, . 


1 


25.00 


Joshua K. Abbot, 


I 


25.00 


Nathaniel Abbot, in labor, . 


I 


25.00 


Woodbridge Odlin, 


I 


25.00 


E. S. Towle, .... 


3 


75.00 


Robert Davis, 


3 


75.00 


Tho. Chadbourne, . 


2 


50.00 


Samuel Coffin, 


1 


25.00 


John Titcomb, in work, 


I 


25.00 


Richard Herbert, 


2 


50.00 


Horatio Hill, .... 


3 


75.00 


Isaac Hill 


4 


100.00 


John West, .... 




75.00 


Richard Bradley, 


4 


100.00 


Joseph C. West, . 


I 


25.00 









* See MS. Files, No. i, in a bo.K in the Library Room of the N. H. Hist. Soc. 

t See MS. File, No. 2. 

t See MS. File. 

§ See Deed of Conveyance, on record in Register of Deed's office. 



45 



Subscribei's at the South part of the Street, who have given their 
names, payable to William Gaiilt, Treasurer. 





Shares. 


Sum. 


I 


Shares. 


Sum. 


George Kent, 


S 


§200.00 


Abraham Prescott, 




J25.00 
25.00 


Asaph EvanSj 


5 


125.00, 


Asa Parker, in brick, . 




Isaac Hill, .... 


4 


100.00 


Aaron Alorse, in joiner's 






Joseph Low, part in appara- 




; work, .... 




25.00 


tus, 


4 


100.00; 1 Daniel Dunlap, in joiner's 






Nathaniel G. Upham, . 


4 


100.00' work, .... 




25.00 


Samuel Fletcher, . 


4 


100. ool] Porter Blanchard, in cabi- 






William Gault, 


4 


100.00! 1 net work, .... 




25.00 


Amos Wood, .... 


4 


100.00 Eliot A. Hill, in cabinet 






Benjamin Thomson, 


4 


100.00! ' work, . : . . 




25.00 


John B. Chandler, in appa- 




jl Crockett & Worth, in cabi- 






ratus, ..... 


4 


100.00 1 network, .... 




25.00 


Joseph P. Stickney, 


2 


50.00! , Woodbury Brown, in car- 






George Hutchins, '. 


2 


50.00 penterwork. 




25.00 


Elisha Morrill, 


2 


50.00, 1 Jacob Abbot and Samuel C. 






Hall Burgin, .... 


2 


50.00! 1 Colby, in carpenter work, 




25.00 


Benj. Damon, in painting, . 


2 


50.00'; Cotton S. Brown, in carpen- 






James Straw, in joiner work. 


2 


50.00 


ter work 




25.00 


Joseph Robinson, . 




25.00 


Philip Watson, in carpenter 






Ebenezer E. Cummings, 




25.00 


work, .... 




25.00 


William Esterbrook, 




25.00!; Thomas Butters, in work, . 




25,00 


Joseph Grover, 






25.00,; Silas G. Sylvester, in work, 




25.00 


Bradbury Gill, 






25.00 


Reuben D. Morse, in car- 






William T. Goodell, 






25.00 


penter work. 




25.00 


J. C. Ernerson, 






25.00 


James Whittemore, in v/ork, 
William Pearson, in work, . 




25.00 


Enos Blake, . 






25.00 




25.00 


Samuel Evans, 






25.00 


Henry S. Robbins, 




25.00 


Daniel Carr, . 






25.00 


1 John Wheeler, in work, 




25.00 


Edward Bracket!, . 






25.00 


Richard Worthen, in brick 






Ira H. Currier, 






25.00 


or work, .... 


I 


25.00 


Aaron Carter, 






25.00 









For the Purchase of Land of Samuel A. Kimball, north of the site 
given for the Academy. Additional Subsc?-iptions. 





Shares. 


Sum. 




Shares. 


Sum. 


Isaac H.tU, in addition to 






William West, . 




gio.oo 


former subscription. . 




?33-33 


Nath'l Wheet, in apparatus 






15.00 


Josiah Rogers, 


I 


25.00 


Gardner P. Lyon, 




I 


25.00 


Hamilton Hutchins, 


I 


25.00 


Lewis Hall, . 






12.50 


S. C. Badger, 


I 


25.00 


Jno. Whipple, in addition 






8.33 


Geo. Hutchins, in addition. 




12.00 


Amos Wood, in addition, ■ 






25.00 


Samuel Fletcher, in addition. 




25. ool 


E. S. Chadwick, . 




I 


25.00 


A. Capen, Jr., 




10.00 


George T. Pilsbury, . 




I 


25.00 


Benjamin Damon, in work, . 




10.00 


David Kimball, . 






10.00 


Edward Brackett, . 




12.00 


Samuel Morril, . 






15.00 


Asaph Evans, 




15.00 


Ezra Carter, 






15.00 


Seth Eastman, 




lo.ooj 


E. S. Towle, in addition, 






15.00 


William Low, 


I 


25.00 


Sam'l Herbert, in p.ddition 






10.00 


Joseph P. Sticknev, 




25.001 


Francis N. Fisk, . 




I 


25.00 


Joseph Low, in addition. 




33-33 


William Green, Plymouth 




I 


25.00 


N. G. Upham, in addition. 






Peter Renton, 




I 


25.00 


paid by note, 




33-33 


Samuel Evans, in addition 






12.50 


Thomas Chadbourne, in ad- 






J. B. Moore, paid by note 




I 


25.00 


dition, paid by note, . 




25.00 


Thomas Brown, . 




I 


25.00 


N. Bouton, in addition, paid 






John J\]cDaniel, . 






5.00 


by note, .... 




25.00 


Robert Davis, in addition 






10.00 


John J. Ayer, in addition. 






David L. Morril, 


1 


25.00 


paid by note. 


I 


25.00 


Jonathan Herbert, 


! 


10.00 



46 

At a general meeting of the above subscribers, all of whom were pro- 
prietors of the Institution, i8th February, 1835, the following persons 
were chosen a Board of Trustees, viz. : Nathaniel Bouton, Ebenezer 
E. Cummings, David L. Mqrril, Samuel Fletcher, Samuel A. Kimball, 
Isaac Hill, Nathaniel G. Upham, Hall Burgin, Thomas Chadbourne, 
William Gault, Abiel Walker, and Ezra Carter. The Trustees, on the 
19th February, organized by choosing Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, Presi- 
dent of the Board, Rev. E. E. Cummings, Secretary, and Dea. William 
Gault, Treasurer. 

An act of incorporation was obtained ; the building was erected on 
the proposed site, 58 feet long and 54 wide, two stories in height, with 
a cupola ; entrance, two doors in front, one for males and the other for 
females ; the apartments separated on the lower floor by a partition, 
with sliding doors. In the upper story were rooms for library, appa- 
ratus, and recitations, with a spacious hall for exhibitions. The cost 
of the building was about $3,500, exclusive of apparatus, and a library, 
estimated at $200. The building was publicly dedicated to the pur- 
poses of education i6th September, 1835, in the presence of the Trus- 
tees and a numerous assembly, by appropriate services, with an address 
by Rev. Mr. Bouton. 

The name of the institution was " The Concord Literary Institution 
and Teachers' Seminary .'''' It comprised four departments : 

I. The Teachers' Department, for the instruction of young men and 
ladies who wish to prepare to teach district schools. 

II. The Academical DeiDartment, for instruction in classical studies 
and preparing young men for college. 

III. The High School Department, for those who are preparing for 
business or usefulness in life without acquiring a classical education. 

IV. The Preparatory Class, to consist of such as are too young or too 
backward to enter either of the above departments. 

The institution was opened for iiTStruction in the fall of 1835, Mr. 
T. D. P. Stone, Principal; Miss Elizabeth Fuller, Preceptress; Miss 
Rowena Coffin and Miss Mary K. Coffin, Assistants. 

Mr. Stone resigned in August, 1837, and the teachers who succeeded 
him were, in 

1837 — two terms — Mr. J. D. Berry, Miss Rowena Coffin. 
1838 — April term — Mr. Eden B. Foster, Miss Sarah Foster. 
1838 — August term — Charles Peabody, Miss S. Foster. 
1838 — December term — Mr. A. C. Heaton, " 
1839— April term— Mr. A. C. Heaton, " 

1839 — August term — Mr. Charles Peabody, " 
1S39 — December term — " " 

1S40 — April term — '• " 



47 

1840— August term— Mr. Charles Peabody, Miss S. Foster. 

1840— December term— " Miss Dow. 

1841 — April term — Mr. Wm. C. Foster, Miss Sarah Foster. 

1 84 1 — August term — " " 

1842 — April term — Mr. Clark S. Brown. 

1 842 — August — ' ' 

1842— December term — Mr. Aaron Day, Miss Emily Pillsbury. 

1843 

Under the instruction of Mr. Stone the institution was very flourish- 
ing. From 1837 to the close of 1841, thirteen terms, the average 
number each term, in the male department, was 43, and in the female 
department, 34. The average yearly income for tuition was $799.15, 
which remunerated the teachers. 

Embarrassed with a debt of about $1 130, the Trustees in 1841 applied 
to the town for relief, and received an assignment and transfer of 600 
shares in the Concord Railroad, for which the town had subscribed, 
but which they concluded not to carry on. These shares were sold, and 
by the Trustees transferred to Gen. Joseph Low, for $675. Thus only 
partially relieved, and pressed with other difficulties, arising from sec- 
tional, political, and sectarian causes, the Trustees, in March, 1844, 
decided " to dispose of the corporate property of the institution," and 
to offer the academy building for sale at public auction, on certain 
specified conditions. It was accordingly sold on the loth of May fol- 
lowing. It was bid off by Richard Pinkhara, of Concord, for himself, 
S. C. Badger, and Asa Fowler, for f 540. With this sum the debts of 
the institution were discharged. 

For some time afterwards, private schools were kept in the academy 
building; but in 184-, the building was sold* to Hon. Isaac Hill, taken 
down, and removed ; out of it were constructed two large dwelling- 
houses and a part of a third, situated at the lower end of Main street, 
opposite to the carriage manufactory of Mr. Joseph S. Abbot. Thus 
endeth the history of the yfr^/ and last public academy building ever 
erected in the town of Concord. Peace to its remains ! f 



NOTE IV, PAGE 32, 



GRADUATES. 

The list of graduates being incomplete, the author thinks it inex- 
pedient to publish the names of those in his possession. They are 
reserved for future use. * 



* The owners at this time were Richard Pinkham and S. C. Badger. 

f For more particulars, see original records in the library of the N. H. Hist. Soc. 



48 



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